Tiger Woods returns to competition on Thursday, and it appears to be just in the nick of time, if television ratings are anything to go by.
The 14-time major winner tees off at the US PGA National at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, after three months out of action. He had back surgery to ease a pinched nerve that saw him miss both the Masters in April and the US Open earlier this month.
The American made all the right noises about being hungry for success, with next month’s British Open the focus, but it appears as if the sport has missed him even more.
Golf.com reported that TV ratings for the US Open, which was won at a canter by Martin Kaymer, was down 45 per cent on last year.
Now, not all of this was down to no Woods, as Kaymer won by eight shots. It was excellent golf by the German but it did not make for an enthralling spectacle.
The absence of Woods did not help. Ratings dropped when he was absent for the second half of 2008 with knee surgery, and history has repeated itself.
Woods may be a divisive figure with the public and media due to his behaviour away from the course, but it may be time to forget the past and appreciate the 38-year-old American while we have him.
Golf survived, and prospered, for a long time, before Woods came on the scene, but the small glimpses of life without him thus far are worrying, to say the least.
gcaygill@thenational.ae
Follow us on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (all kick-offs UAE time)
Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin (10.30pm)
Saturday
Freiburg v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)
Paderborn v Hoffenheim (5.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Borussia Dortmund (5.30pm)
Borussia Monchengladbach v Bayer Leverkusen (5.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)
Sunday
Schalke v Augsburg (3.30pm)
Mainz v RB Leipzig (5.30pm)
Cologne v Fortuna Dusseldorf (8pm)
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site
The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
Bloomsbury Academic
